@Cockleburr:

I don't know. Maybe? I haven't really thought that much about it.... it doesn't come up in the story I wrote about her!

@Lock:

yeah, we are kinda taking over.... but no one else has posted in DAYS! I think we're kinda the only ones on here... and I don't feel comfortable writing someone else's story so...

But I agree. Let's take it down a few notches. As the introduction says, "This is NOT a ski lodge. It is an AE shipping thread!!" I think that maybe later, when this ball is over,  I might make an "AE adventure thread". Kind of like a ski lodge, but everyone writes and no one dies (unless they want to!). That could be fun! It would be like this, but not at a ball. And less shipping, more adventure.

~Zoey 

Goodness no!!! No plans here!!!! XD You do a really good job of capturing Key! :)

@Cockleburr:

I'm sorry; I'll put you in this one! I've got to warn you though: we're mostly dancing now. There's not much going on. But anyway:

~Zoey

~~~

I sit back down next to the slumbering Evil Devin. I smile. He looks so cute when he's sleeping. Then my smile fades. What am i doing? I'm not supposd to be falling in love!

But you are, whispers a rebellious voice inside me. I tell it to be quiet, but it goes on.

It won't be like last time. Evil Devin is most definetely not super-evil. Look how he tried to help you. Look how he really cares. Look at how bad he felt about the nectar. Look at his dancing skills.

Look at the way he looks at you.

I'm confused now. That extra twinkle in his eye when he looks at me... is that not just the light? Is it not just something in my mind? Could it be... real?

I shake my head. It's too late to be thinking about this. I stand up again and walk out to the maze of hedges and flowerbeds behind the ballroom. I need to clear my head. Maybe then, everything will be clear.

I start walking through the moonlit garden, stopping to smell the sweet blooms. As I walk, I see I'm not the only one with this idea. There are a few other AE couples out here. 

As I bend over to smell one of the roses, a male AE runs up to me. "Jammira!" he says hurridly. "Please don't go! You're not under a jynx! You just have bad luck! Something good will happen I promise!"

I stand back up, and his face falls. "Oh. I'm sorry.... you're not Jammira. Uh, sorry. Bye!" And he dashes off again.

Jammira... I search my memory. Isn't that the other AE with wings, the one wearing a similar ballgown? The male AE-- Counter, I remember-- must have mistaken her for me in the moonlight. I feel bad. Isn't that the AE who had frosting fall on her? She must really feel jynxed. 

Suddenly, I have a BRILLIANT idea. While Evil Devin's asleep, I can fix things for these AEs! Jammira must be really upset, and Counter really seems to like her.

But I'll need help. I dash back inside, all confusiing thoughts forgotten. I stop. That AE I met earlier, Lock, is dancing with Sib. I don't want to interrupt their happy chatter... they're so perfect for each other!

I spin around, searching the ballroom for an AE I recoginize. There are none. I'm a relatively new AE, and I don't know many AEs.

I shrug and walk up to the punch table, where several single AEs are talking awkwardly.

"Hey..." I start. They all look at me curiously. When I explain, they smile and agree to help.

~Zoey 

Zoey

~~~

The plan is made. Sriracha is going to find Counter, and the other AEs are setting the scene. Raven and Max are spreading the word. My job is to find Jammira-- a difficult task, as no one seems to know where she is. Everyone I ask just shrugs and says they saw her 'over there a little bit ago'. Not helpful.

I try to think. If I was (were?) Jammira, where would I go?

Aha, I think. There's only three AEs here that can fly: Me, that dragon over there, and.... Jammira.

I open my wings and take off, swooping among the tops of the marble columns and vaulted ceiling. No Jammira.

I check the spired rooftop. No Jammira.

Finally, I go outside and check the gardens. No Jammira. But, I spot a forest in the back of the gardens. I decide to check there. I swoop among the ancient trees, peering in the dappled moonlight for any sign of raven-black wings.

Suddenly, a crossbow bolt smacks into a tree right by my face. "Stay away, or the next crossbow bolt's going to be aimed two inches to the right." a voice calls. That would put it about smack dab in the center of my face.

"I'm not scared of you," I call, my sensitive eyes narrowing in on a twitch of raven feathers in a treetop to my left. 

The twitching stops. "Really? Then I've really got to work on my scariness factor," the voice says, the owner emerging from the treetops. She has curly red hair and a lavender ballgown, and a mahogany crossbow is still pointed at me. She opens her wings, does a graceful little swoop, and lands beside me on a branch.

"I take it you're Jammira?" I ask.

She looks down at herself. "Is there another AE with wings and a crossbow?"

I shrug. "I left mine at home."

She takes in my wings for the first time. "Oh. Uh... oh! Ha!" She gets my joke--finally. She must be under pressure. I notice the red puffiness under her eyes. She's been crying.

I grin and hold out my hand. "Zoey."

She takes it. "Jammira-- though you already know that. Nice gown, by the way."

"Thanks. Nice crossbow." She seems to notice she's still pointing it at me. Her face reddens. "Oh. Yeah. Uh, sorry." She slips it into a clever pocket on the side of her dress. 

I shrug. "It's fine. It's not the first time someone's pointed a crossbow at me!" I lean back against the trunk of the tree. "Why'd you come all the way out here?" I wave my hand at the forest around us. 

Her shoulders go up around her chin in a move I've seen before. She's clamming up.

"No reason," she says defensively.

I shrug, pretending not to care. "Okay. I'm just going to assume it's for the same reason as me."

She looks at me, confused. "And that is..."

"To get away from all that fancy nonsense," I say, grinning to make sure she knows I'm joking. "Oh, let me, you're too kind, thank you, no, really, after you BLAH PULL MY FEATHERS OUT ALREADY."

Jammira laughs, and her shoulders go down a little. "I know what you mean. But Counter's not like that. He's sweet, and smart, and funny... he doesn't deserve a jynx like me."

I'm shocked. "Really? I don't think you're a jynx! Lots of bad things happen to everyone, especially me. I didn't even want to come!" I start telling her about the ball, and the Amaryllis Nectar, and Evil Devin. She laughs and gasps in all the right places, and I feel like I've known her forever.

At the end of my rambling story, she stands up, balancing easily on the branch. "I think-- I think I'm ready to go back now," she says, determination and fear warring on her face. "A little bit of frosting falls on my head, and I run away. But you-- you've had so many bad experiences, but you came anyway. You had a panic attack, and you stayed anyway. You almost DIED, for skies's sake, and you stayed. And you laughed about it! I don't want to run away from my problems anymore. I want to go back."

I nod. "I'd hoped you'd say that! Talking with you has been fun."

She grins at me, all nervousness forgotten. "Race you back!" With a laugh, she springs off the branch and flies between the trees. She's fast, but she doesn't know as many tricks as I do. I swerve between the trees, flying sideways and sometimes even upside down. I touch the edge of the forest a millisecond before she does, and we collapse in a heap, laughing.

Jammira stands up and offers me her hand. I take it and tug myself up. I point to the ballroom door. "Ready?"

She nods determinedly at me. "Ready."

We start to walk in, and I hope to the skies that the other AEs have done their part. 

I see that they have. The ballroom is deserted, except for Counter and Sriracha at the other end. "Jammira?" he asks, just as she says, "Counter?"

The stop and blush. Sriracha and I exchange a sly look.

Counter starts again. "Jammira, I thought you were leaving! i thought... I thought... I thought you didn't want to be... with... me." His voice slows down and gets really quiet.

Jammira takes an agonized step towards him. "Counter, no! I thought I was jynxed!"

"You're not jynxed," he says softly, staring into her eyes. "You're perfect just as you are."

"Counter--" Jammira says, running into his arms. 

I grin at Sriracha. Time for phase two. 

I whistle, and all the AEs pop out from behind couches, chairs, and tables. "SURPRISE!" they shout. A banner pops down that says "Counter+Jammira". Confetti and gold glitter falls from the ceiling.

Counter looks surprised, then starts laughing. Jammira joins in, and soon the whole room is laughing and chatting.

I work my way over to Jammira through the crowd.

She shakes her head in amazement, staring at everything. "Wow. I can't believe this, Zoey. Thank you so much!"

I grin. "All in a day's work."

I turn to walk away, but Counter catches my arm. "Zoey-- why did you do this for us?"

I wink. "I made a little promise to your CBer."

Then I walk away, for real this time.

I leave the room full of dancing, laughing AEs and sit on the steps beside the slumbering Evil Devin. I poke him gently.

"Wake up," I say gently.

He starts awake. "Wha-- oh. Hello."

"Hi," I whisper back. He takes in the dancing AEs, bashfully grinning Jammira and Counter, and banner in the room behind us.

"What'd I miss?" he asks.

I smile at him. "A lot. But that's okay. I can explain it to you-- at least, if you let me have the honor of the next dance."

He fake frowns. "Isn't the guy usually supposed to ask the girl?"

I grin. "Since when am I the usual?" I hold out my hand and he takes it, and we joing the throng of people spilling out onto the lawn. As we spin and laugh, we pass Sriracha, Max, and Raven. Phase Three, I mouth at them. Then I mutter an incantation and foreworls start exploding in the sky. As Evil Devin and I pause to watch them, I think to myself,

There's no where in the world I'd rather be right now.

~~~

As told by Zoey